Tycoon: I Have an Unlimited Modifier

On Zhuangyu Catering’s side, however, there was only the initial investment of 50 million.

The subsequent 100 million had become a distant prospect.

"Mayor Liu, you’re underestimating our group’s strength."

"It’s a mere hundred million. The hotel our Chairman Qi bought by Hangzhou West Lake cost seven or eight hundred million."

Jie Chao, of course, knew what Liu Yuan was worried about.

With just one sentence, he completely set their minds at ease.

"Haha, I was overthinking things. I’ll punish myself with a drink. Chairman Qi, President Jie, please don’t mind!"

Liu Yuan downed a glass of baijiu without hesitation, and his mood completely lightened.

"Chairman Qi, I guarantee you, as long as Zhuangyu’s phase-two funding comes through,"

"you’ll definitely have a spot in the Sichuan Province’s Outstanding Entrepreneur selection!"

"Outstanding Entrepreneur?"

Qi Sheng raised an eyebrow. He remembered that last time, Liu Yuan had promised an "Excellent Entrepreneur" award.

"Heh, I wasn’t sure before if your phase-two investment would materialize."

"That’s why I was more cautious and only promised you the ’Excellent Entrepreneur’ honor."

Buoyed by the alcohol, Liu Yuan’s voice grew louder.

"If your phase-two investment comes through, bringing the total investment in Longxing Town to one hundred million, it won’t be too difficult for me to use my connections to secure an ’Outstanding Entrepreneur’ award for you."

"Is there a big difference between ’Outstanding Entrepreneur’ and ’Excellent Entrepreneur’?"

Qi Sheng had never paid much attention to these things before.

But he felt that the former seemed a bit more prestigious.

"Of course! The province only selects fifteen ’Outstanding Entrepreneurs.’ They’re almost all industry leaders or figures who have made significant contributions."

Fearing Qi Sheng might look down on this honor, Liu Yuan explained energetically.

"As for ’Excellent Entrepreneurs,’ there are many more of them—a full seventy-five. The prestige is leagues apart."

"I see. You’ve been very thoughtful, Mayor Liu."

Qi Sheng smiled and nodded, raising his glass in a small toast.

"You’re too kind. I’m just helping you get the honor you deserve, all within the rules."

Liu Yuan chuckled. "Supporting agriculture, rural areas, and farmers is in line with national policy. You’re also helping the local people increase their income. I’m sure the higher-ups will grant you this honor."

"Then let’s hope your words prove true, Mayor Liu."

Qi Sheng had two more drinks with Liu Yuan, and feeling that was enough, he gave Jie Chao a look.

"Mayor Liu, let’s call it a day. Chairman Qi has other things on his schedule, so let’s get together again another time."

Jie Chao understood that Qi Sheng didn’t want to get too involved with them, so he spoke into the ear of the still relatively sober Liu Yuan.

"Of course. Chairman Qi is an incredibly busy man. It’s a rare honor that he could find the time to join our dinner."

Liu Yuan, for his part, knew his place.

’A big boss like him isn’t going to spend all his time with small-fry from a township like us.’

’The fact that he sent Jie Chao to stay behind and entertain us...’

’...already shows he holds us in high regard.’

...

At the end of March, the twenty Spicy King locations in the Southwest Region had completed their renovations and were ready to open at any time.

Qi Sheng set the opening date for April 8th.

Opening twenty branches all at once led many people to be pessimistic about Spicy King’s prospects.

Just because the Taikoo Li Main Store was a hit didn’t mean the other branches could replicate its success.

The first cities Spicy King entered were, naturally, the provincial capitals.

Among them, Chengdu, as Spicy King’s home base, would get an additional six branches besides the Taikoo Li Main Store.

Chongqing, as a direct-administered municipality, was treated on par with a first-tier city in Spicy King’s expansion strategy and would also get six branches.

The remaining cities, Kunming and Guiyang, would each get four branches.

Opening twenty branches at once in the Southwest Region, where the hotpot industry’s internal competition had already reached a fever pitch, one had to admit, was an incredibly bold move by Spicy King.

Contrary to the pessimistic outlook from the outside world, everyone inside Spicy King was rubbing their hands in eager anticipation.

Long before the opening, Yuan Li had assigned people to handle preliminary recruitment.

A portion of the staff from the existing store would also be transferred to provide support.

But the most crucial positions were undoubtedly the store managers and assistant managers.

They had only managed to prepare ten assistant managers so far.

Finding suitable store managers was a major headache for Yuan Li.

It was impossible to poach them without offering high salaries.

But Spicy King’s cash flow was very tight at the moment.

The branches in the four first-tier cities alone were enough to give them a major headache.

Yuan Li remembered that Qi Sheng had made a promise earlier.

He had promised that the store manager candidates would be in place before the new locations opened.

So, she went upstairs to ask Qi Sheng for the people directly.

"Boss, the store managers you promised... they should be ready by now, right?"

"Have a seat. The people are definitely ready."

Qi Sheng gestured for his secretary, Tang Qian, to make tea, then cleared his throat.

"But... well, they might need some time to get up to speed."

"Hm?"

Yuan Li was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Rome wasn’t built in a day. We have to give them a chance to grow, wouldn’t you agree?"

Qi Sheng was indeed rich, but even he couldn’t keep up with Yuan Li’s huge demands.

’If I configure all the store managers as Elite Level talents... the managers for twenty stores would cost a full one hundred million!’

’Even if I have the money, I can’t afford to squander it like that.’

Qi Sheng’s plan was to first provide Yuan Li with twenty store managers.

Then, after Spicy King opened and the cash flow improved, he would use the funds from Spicy King’s own account to upgrade them.

As for the assistant managers, they could simply be promoted from within the Taikoo Li store.

Even if their skills were a bit lacking, he could improve them by spending money from Spicy King’s revenue stream.

"My plan is to have Lin Qiu and his group serve as store managers first, and then I’ll arrange for ten more people at a similar skill level."

"Later, we can make adjustments based on their performance. If someone isn’t cutting it, we’ll have them step down to an assistant manager position."

Qi Sheng waved his hand at Tang Qian, who had just finished serving the tea.

She obediently exited the office, gently pulling the door closed behind her.

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